Hillary’s big lead in the Philly ‘burbs; Donkey artists vs. DNC; Should we host an Olympics?

Newsletter for Friday, Aug 05 2016

INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY

LATEST POLL: HILLARY IS LEADING BY A WHOPPING 40 POINTS IN THE PHILLY ‘BURBS

If it’s true that Pennsylvania is won and lost in the Philadelphia suburbs, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is in for some good news. The latest Franklin and Marshall poll shows Clinton is up 40 points to Donald Trump in Southeastern Pennsylvania — and that doesn’t include Philadelphia, where she’s up even more. The poll of 661 people shows Clinton leads Trump 49 percent to 38 percent among likely voters overall. Here’s why that’s huge for Hillz.

PHILLY DONKEY ARTISTS: WE GOT SCREWED BY THE DNC HOST COMMITTEE

A representative for artists who painted 57 fiberglass donkeys says the Democratic National Convention Host Committee enticed the artists into sharing profits after their sale at auction, only to later learn the vast majority were given away for free. But Gov. Ed Rendell, the head of the DNC Host Committee, says she’s “absolutely dead wrong,” and each artist signed a contract stating he or she was aware the donkeys could be gifted. Here’s what we found when we looked into it.

BILLY PENN LIKES

SHOULD PHILLY TRY TO HOST AN OLYMPICS?

Philadelphia has always been a big city, rich with American history. But, globally, Philly hasn’t always been considered a big event city, perhaps because while the history is rich, the city, itself, isn’t. Big events cost big money, and while Philly has successfully hosted big events in the past — Live Aid, the RNC, several All-Star weekends — the major events in the last few years have made people around the world take notice. Could the city be capable of scaling up for an event like the Olympics? Here’s a look at what it takes.

SORRY FOLKS, THAT SCRAPPLE ICE CREAM PIC IS FAKE

Maybe you’ve seen that photo on Facebook of Wegmans brand scrapple ice cream. Maybe you want to believe. The feasibility of scrapple ice cream’s existence explains why it was so easy for a photo showing a pint of Wegmans brand “Fresh Scrapple” frozen treat to go viral. It does look pretty real, with the purple-to-white pint container featuring meaty chunks next to the callout “Scrapple Chunks with Real Maple Syrup Added.” Alas, the photo is fantasy. But the backstory of the fake is worth reading.